Over 500,000 Afghans registered as refugees
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR—More than half a million Afghans in Pakistan, including over 270,000 in North West Frontier Province, have been registered in an ongoing government exercise to provide official documentation to Afghans who arrived in Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since the exercise started on October 15, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has registered a total of 525,000 Afghans. More than half of them were registered in North West Frontier Province, 22 percent in Balochistan, 15 percent in Punjab, 10 percent in Sindh and 1.3 percent in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Currently, some 19,000 Afghans are being registered daily in over 60 locations countrywide and the daily registration numbers have been increasing steadily, especially in NWFP. The registration, which is scheduled to end on December 31, is a follow-up to the 2005 government census of Afghans in Pakistan. Only Afghans who were counted in the census and whose names are in the census database are eligible for the current registration. They receive a Proof of Registration card that is valid for three years and recognizes the bearer as an Afghan citizen temporarily living in Pakistan.
Registration is conducted by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) with the support of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and the UN refugee agency.
“NADRA has improved the search functions in the database, which speeds up the process,” said the Director-General of NADRA, Colonel Zahid Iqbal. “But many people who were not in the census are coming to try their luck, and they are clogging up the system.” Chief Commissioner Nayyar Agha clarified, “Afghans who were not in the census should wait till registration is completed. The government will decide on policies for their future.”
UNHCR Assistant Representative in Pakistan, Indrika Ratwatte, noted that while photographs are mandatory for registration, exceptions have been made in cases where families said it was against their culture. NADRA has provided female photographers to facilitate the process in a culturally sensitive manner, and 73 percent of the women registered have chosen to have their photos taken.